Academy → Practical GuidesOfficial documentation · Arabic guidance

Automate Anything with Cron

أتمِت أي مهمة عبر Cron

Intermediate8 min readLesson 134 questions✓ 2026-08-18
Before you read

What this page is, and what it holds.

This page covers Automate Anything with Cron. It carries a source warning and takes about 8 minutes to read. A job that runs while you sleep also fails while you sleep. Make it report, and test it by hand first.

8sections
11code examples
1tables
3commands
1,371source words
The official one-line description

Real-world automation patterns using Hermes cron — monitoring, reports, pipelines, and multi-skill workflows

What you will be able to do

Outcomes taken from this page, not a template.

  • Understand what المهام المجدولة is and when you need it.
  • Run hermes for: and hermes send and understand what happens next.
  • Read the table and take only the row that applies to you.
  • Set STATE_FILE in the right place.
Identifiers you will meet

Exactly as they appear in Hermes.

Commands
  • hermes for:
  • hermes send
  • hermes cron create
Environment variables
  • STATE_FILE
  • DATA_DIR
Page map

Jump to the part you need.

  1. 01Pattern 1: Website Change Monitor
  2. 02Pattern 2: Weekly Report
  3. 03Pattern 3: GitHub Repository Watcher
  4. 04Pattern 4: Data Collection Pipeline
  5. 05Pattern 5: Multi-Skill Workflow
  6. 06Managing Your Jobs
  7. 07Delivery Targets
  8. 08Tips
The full official page

Nothing summarised away.

The documentation body below is reproduced from the official source so commands and identifiers stay exact. Each section carries a short note describing what it contains.

The daily briefing bot tutorial covers the basics. This guide goes further — five real-world automation patterns you can adapt for your own workflows.

For the full feature reference, see Scheduled Tasks (Cron).

---

Pattern 1: Website Change Monitor

Settings you configure once. Change one at a time so you can see what each does. Set STATE_FILE in your environment, not in the chat.

Watch a URL for changes and get notified only when something is different.

The script parameter is the secret weapon here. A Python script runs before each execution, and its stdout becomes context for the agent. The script handles the mechanical work (fetching, diffing); the agent handles the reasoning (is this change interesting?).

Create the monitoring script:

Shell1 line
mkdir -p ~/.hermes/scripts
Python28 lines


URL = "https://example.com/pricing"
STATE_FILE = os.path.expanduser("~/.hermes/scripts/.watch-site-state.json")

# Fetch current content
req = urllib.request.Request(URL, headers={"User-Agent": "Hermes-Monitor/1.0"})
content = urllib.request.urlopen(req, timeout=30).read().decode()
current_hash = hashlib.sha256(content.encode()).hexdigest()

# Load previous state
prev_hash = None
if os.path.exists(STATE_FILE):
    with open(STATE_FILE) as f:
        prev_hash = json.load(f).get("hash")

# Save current state
with open(STATE_FILE, "w") as f:
    json.dump({"hash": current_hash, "url": URL}, f)

# Output for the agent
if prev_hash and prev_hash != current_hash:
    print(f"CHANGE DETECTED on {URL}")
    print(f"Previous hash: {prev_hash}")
    print(f"Current hash: {current_hash}")
    print(f"\nCurrent content (first 2000 chars):\n{content[:2000]}")
else:
    print("NO_CHANGE")

Set up the cron job:

Shell1 line
/cron add "every 1h" "If the script output says CHANGE DETECTED, summarize what changed on the page and why it might matter. If it says NO_CHANGE, respond with just [SILENT]." --script ~/.hermes/scripts/watch-site.py --name "Pricing monitor" --deliver telegram

---

Pattern 2: Weekly Report

Commands you type in a terminal. Understand what one does before copying it. Commands here: hermes cron create.

Compile information from multiple sources into a formatted summary. This runs once a week and delivers to your home channel.

Shell8 lines
/cron add "0 9 * * 1" "Generate a weekly report covering:

1. Search the web for the top 5 AI news stories from the past week
2. Search GitHub for trending repositories in the 'machine-learning' topic
3. Check Hacker News for the most discussed AI/ML posts

Format as a clean summary with sections for each source. Include links.
Keep it under 500 words — highlight only what matters." --name "Weekly AI digest" --deliver telegram

From the CLI:

Shell4 lines
hermes cron create "0 9 * * 1" \
  "Generate a weekly report covering the top AI news, trending ML GitHub repos, and most-discussed HN posts. Format with sections, include links, keep under 500 words." \
  --name "Weekly AI digest" \
  --deliver telegram

The 0 9 * * 1 is a standard cron expression: 9:00 AM every Monday.

---

Pattern 3: GitHub Repository Watcher

Carries a warning. Read it before running anything here. Commands here: hermes for:. The upstream warning appears below.

Monitor a repository for new issues, PRs, or releases.

Shell11 lines
/cron add "every 6h" "Check the GitHub repository NousResearch/hermes-agent for:
- New issues opened in the last 6 hours
- New PRs opened or merged in the last 6 hours
- Any new releases

Use the terminal to run gh commands:
  gh issue list --repo NousResearch/hermes-agent --state open --json number,title,author,createdAt --limit 10
  gh pr list --repo NousResearch/hermes-agent --state all --json number,title,author,createdAt,mergedAt --limit 10

Filter to only items from the last 6 hours. If nothing new, respond with [SILENT].
Otherwise, provide a concise summary of the activity." --name "Repo watcher" --deliver discord

---

Pattern 4: Data Collection Pipeline

Settings you configure once. Change one at a time so you can see what each does. Set DATA_DIR in your environment, not in the chat.

Scrape data at regular intervals, save to files, and detect trends over time. This pattern combines a script (for collection) with the agent (for analysis).

Python26 lines

from datetime import datetime

DATA_DIR = os.path.expanduser("~/.hermes/data/prices")
os.makedirs(DATA_DIR, exist_ok=True)

# Fetch current data (example: crypto prices)
url = "https://api.coingecko.com/api/v3/simple/price?ids=bitcoin,ethereum&vs_currencies=usd"
data = json.loads(urllib.request.urlopen(url, timeout=30).read())

# Append to history file
entry = {"timestamp": datetime.now().isoformat(), "prices": data}
history_file = os.path.join(DATA_DIR, "history.jsonl")
with open(history_file, "a") as f:
    f.write(json.dumps(entry) + "\n")

# Load recent history for analysis
lines = open(history_file).readlines()
recent = [json.loads(l) for l in lines[-24:]]  # Last 24 data points

# Output for the agent
print(f"Current: BTC=${data['bitcoin']['usd']}, ETH=${data['ethereum']['usd']}")
print(f"Data points collected: {len(lines)} total, showing last {len(recent)}")
print(f"\nRecent history:")
for r in recent[-6:]:
    print(f"  {r['timestamp']}: BTC=${r['prices']['bitcoin']['usd']}, ETH=${r['prices']['ethereum']['usd']}")
Shell10 lines
/cron add "every 1h" "Analyze the price data from the script output. Report:
1. Current prices
2. Trend direction over the last 6 data points (up/down/flat)
3. Any notable movements (>5% change)

If prices are flat and nothing notable, respond with [SILENT].
If there's a significant move, explain what happened." \
  --script ~/.hermes/scripts/collect-prices.py \
  --name "Price tracker" \
  --deliver telegram

The script does the mechanical collection; the agent adds the reasoning layer.

---

Pattern 5: Multi-Skill Workflow

Explains the idea itself. Read it slowly; the later sections build on it.

Chain skills together for complex scheduled tasks. Skills are loaded in order before the prompt executes.

Shell5 lines
# Use the arxiv skill to find papers, then the obsidian skill to save notes
/cron add "0 8 * * *" "Search arXiv for the 3 most interesting papers on 'language model reasoning' from the past day. For each paper, create an Obsidian note with the title, authors, abstract summary, and key contribution." \
  --skill arxiv \
  --skill obsidian \
  --name "Paper digest"

From the tool directly:

Python8 lines
cronjob(
    action="create",
    skills=["arxiv", "obsidian"],
    prompt="Search arXiv for papers on 'language model reasoning' from the past day. Save the top 3 as Obsidian notes.",
    schedule="0 8 * * *",
    name="Paper digest",
    deliver="local"
)

Skills are loaded in order — arxiv first (teaches the agent how to search papers), then obsidian (teaches how to write notes). The prompt ties them together.

---

Managing Your Jobs

Explains the idea itself. Read it slowly; the later sections build on it.

Shell19 lines
# List all active jobs
/cron list

# Trigger a job immediately (for testing)
/cron run <job_id>

# Pause a job without deleting it
/cron pause <job_id>

# Edit a running job's schedule or prompt
/cron edit <job_id> --schedule "every 4h"
/cron edit <job_id> --prompt "Updated task description"

# Add or remove skills from an existing job
/cron edit <job_id> --skill arxiv --skill obsidian
/cron edit <job_id> --clear-skills

# Remove a job permanently
/cron remove <job_id>

---

Delivery Targets

A lookup table. Do not read it all; find the row that applies to you.

The --deliver flag controls where results go:

TargetExampleUse case
origin--deliver originSame chat that created the job (default)
local--deliver localSave to local file only
telegram--deliver telegramYour Telegram home channel
discord--deliver discordYour Discord home channel
slack--deliver slackYour Slack home channel
Specific chat--deliver telegram:-1001234567890A specific Telegram group
Threaded--deliver telegram:-1001234567890:17585A specific Telegram topic thread

---

Tips

Explains the idea itself. Read it slowly; the later sections build on it.

Make prompts self-contained. The agent in a cron job has no memory of your conversations. Include URLs, repo names, format preferences, and delivery instructions directly in the prompt.

Use [SILENT] deliberately. For monitoring jobs, include instructions like "if nothing changed, respond with only [SILENT]." Do not ask the agent to explain the token in quiet cases — cron treats [SILENT] as the delivery-suppression marker.

Use scripts for data collection. The script parameter lets a Python script handle the boring parts (HTTP requests, file I/O, state tracking). The agent only sees the script's stdout and applies reasoning to it. This is cheaper and more reliable than having the agent do the fetching itself.

Test with /cron run. Before waiting for the schedule to trigger, use /cron run <job_id> to execute immediately and verify the output looks right.

Schedule expressions. Supported formats: relative delays (30m), intervals (every 2h), standard cron expressions (0 9 * * *), and ISO timestamps (2025-06-15T09:00:00). Natural language like daily at 9am is not supported — use 0 9 * * * instead.

---

For the complete cron reference — all parameters, edge cases, and internals — see Scheduled Tasks (Cron).

Knowledge check

4 questions answered by this page alone.

Every option is a real identifier from the Hermes documentation. The wrong ones are real too, just from other pages.

1. In this lesson's table, what is the “Example” for “Specific chat”?
2. Which of these environment variables actually appears in this lesson?
3. Which warning does the source state in this lesson?
4. Which of these headings does not appear in this lesson?